Chartplotter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A navigational instrument that integrates GPS capabilities with mapping systems to visually represent geographic routes and locations
2. A device used for navigation that combines GPS technology and digital maps to display routes and geographical features
3. An electronic tool that utilizes GPS data and cartographic information to illustrate paths and locations for navigation

Etymology: A chartplotter is a compound of two ordinary English words: "chart," a map designed for navigation, and "plotter," a device or person that plots, meaning marks positions or lines on a surface. Put together, the name describes exactly what the device does: it plots your position and course onto a digital chart. The "plotter" half has a longer history in the sense of a person who draws out plans or schemes, but in navigation it came to mean a machine that traces lines on paper or a screen, and the chartplotter is that idea carried into electronic form. The two-word spelling "chart plotter" and the closed form "chartplotter" both appear, and they refer to the same device. The compound is a straightforward technical coinage rather than an old term, formed once electronic navigation displays made it possible to plot a position directly onto a map on screen.

Synonyms: navigator, plotter